There seems to be no bottom to the well of Democratic stupidity. I hear it every day, from otherwise smart people like Thom Hartmann*, who continually implores Obama to find his “inner FDR,” to bloggers like JC, also a smart guy, who apparently thinks there is a fight going on over extending the Bush tax cuts, rather than mere stage play.
Here’s Doug Coffin, apparently a real person (remember “John Firehammer”?), writing at Left in the West , who says the following regarding the pay freeze on federal employees:
In doing so, the President is guilty of a rookie mistake from a collective bargaining perspective i.e. he continually bargains against himself. He did the same thing with health care when he took “single payer” and then the “public option” off the table for nothing in return.
No doubt that he’s expecting the GOP to respond in-kind by agreeing to pass the much needed unemployment extension or giving in on extending tax cuts for the wealthy. They won’t…. and he’ll be stuck screwing his constituents one more time. It looks more and more difficult for him to rebuild the coalition that got him elected. He’s angered teachers, labor and now federal employees.
He’s not expecting anything of the kind. Again with the misunderestimation! He knows what the Republicans will do, and welcomes it. The machinations are there merely to befuddle the [rank and file] Democrats.
We are traveling to the People’s Republic of Boulder today, so I have to sum this up succinctly.
Ah, screw that. It’s takes less time to be verbose than succinct.
Obama was a brand. The powers behind the façade of two parties realized that people were fed up with Bush and company, and so knew that they had to pitch idealism to salve the wounds of eight years of Bush cynicism. Obama is no Lincoln – he did not rise up from obscurity based on intelligence and political skill. He was spotted … he spoke at the Democratic convention in 2004, and power brokers saw potential. He was run up the flag pole, along with many others, and found to have some real possibility. He was staffed, an advertising campaign was created, speeches were written, a book or two … and art became reality. Obama the image became Obama the president.
The president could well have been Hillary Clinton, or even Tom Vilsac. That’s not important. It would not change anything.
But he’s not in charge. He’s not bargaining behind the scenes, making “rookie mistakes.” He’s acting on a stage, reading scripted words to reinforce the illusion of two parties.
There’s no hope in two-party politics. Change has to come from without, and against amazing odds. It has happened before – slavery did end, FDR did allow social reforms (there were powerful social movements at that time, but not now), women got the vote and the 14th amendment passed. But rights are not given, and words have no power if not backed by people fighting for those rights. Our first amendment, or fourteenth, mean exactly nothing without fighters.
Obama’s election means nothing. The power brokers may have already abandoned him, as he doesn’t even seem to be trying to assuage his base these days. He’s looking like a one-termer. He probably had no concern over the election losses, as he’s not staked in any ideology. He’s merely depending on the bottomless well of Democratic stupidity to hold on the the presidency for four years beyond his allotted four.
He’s an actor on a stage. He, unlike George W. Bush, might actually understand that. He is smart.
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*Hartmann went to far as to suggest, in a recent interview with author Chris Hedges, that Obama might not be a liberal, but rather (gasp!), a “moderate.” He holds this view in the face of Obama’s conntinued out-rightwinging the right wingers, making bigger defense budgets, more war, and carrying forward with terror and torture just as before. The power of perception management extends right into the brain of this jabbering but otherwise intelligent radio host.
Piece of Mindful 
Even the best Broadway plays, most popular TV shows and almost all other forms of entertainment have a “run” and then die. We’re watching the Democrat-Republican reruns on cable wondering when the audience will evaporate and the show gets yanked from the lineup.
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Tisk tisk. Such cynicism. And to think that all of you were filled with the warm glow of hope and change just two short years ago.
So, kids, what else is on TV? Hey, check out this show from 1970:
///
Robinson snapped off the bottle caps with an opener that was nailed to the side of a cabinet. “It’s time to fight.” He set a bottle before his guest and moved to his chair. “It’s the fighters that gave this country everything it has. The thinkers just sat around and thought it up, but the fighters went out and got it.”
“Got what?”
“Freedom. No one in this world ever gave away any freedom. You have to take it. It’s the fighters this country owes everything to, and it’ll be the fighters that’ll make this country good again.”
Steven eyed his bottle. “I’m not a fighter. And even if I were, I wouldn’t fight for this country. The people get what they deserve.”
“Do you want a glass for that?”
“No thanks. I’d rather not see it.” He raised the brew to his lips and drank. The dark drink foamed in his mouth.
“Not bad warm, eh? More personality.”
“I guess.” Steven wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.
“You’re a fighter, son. You’re one of the warrior class if ever I saw one.”
Flattered but unconvinced, Steven laughed.
“It’s true, lad. All it takes is a few men willing to stand up to fire and the rest will close ranks behind them. This, this killing in Ohio. It’s no good. You have to fight fire with fire. If one man breaks ranks, then everybody runs.”
“I’m not breaking ranks—don’t give me that. The people are going out to the mountains. It’s the only place they won’t be hassled by the system.”
“You will never get away from the system. You’re breaking ranks.”
“I am not. I’m just not into killing anyone.”
“You could pull that lever in the voting booth until your arm falls off. Somebody has to get killed if you want things to change.”
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Oh, I think there is a fight going on. Just not between Congress and the WHite House. I agree that is all stage play.
WHere the fight is going on, is between the people and their government. My whole purpose in the article you point to above, is to show the hypocrisy between Obama and Boehner’s words, and their public pronouncements. And also to show the hypocrisy of a radical minority of people, like Big Ingy, who want their tax cuts regardless of its impact on the deficit.
People can come to their own opinions about what it means. To me, I’d be utterly flabbergasted if the tax cuts weren’t passed–whether an extension or permanently. The fix is in, and all of the votes in the House and Senate on just a tax cut for those below 250k is just show.
And that really sucks, it has become so obvious. The only remaining issue is how many people fall for it, and how the media portrays it.
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Um…
“My whole purpose in the article you point to above, is to show the hypocrisy between Obama and Boehner’s words, and their public pronouncements. ”
should read:
“My whole purpose in the article you point to above, is to show the hypocrisy between Obama and Boehner’s actions, and their public pronouncements.”
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JC Dude:
You are off the reservation again!
You know, if you drink too much, you can get really paranoid and start to see things. Uh, I mean, start to have visions.
Trotsky has a chemical imbalance in his brain that causes him to see weird things. But that is not his fault. You, on the other hand, can stop what you are doing, get cleaned up, and go back to working at Burger King.
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1) I don’t drink;
2) I’ve never worked at a quick food joint; and
3) I’m happily employed doing work I enjoy and that is worthwhile
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Max,
Cynicism? Nope, quess again. No warm glow two years ago either. I last voted for a Democrat in 2002. I voted for Kelleher v. Baucus in 2008 – that would be Republican if you think it matters. Didn’t like either McCain or Obama that same year. Would never vote for a warmed-over, repackaged Senator. Until we shift out of a perpetual war economy, do you think any of it really matters? So many wars most can’t even find them on a map. Hell, we’re so stupid most can’t find Canada on a map. Is there a war there or something?
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Oh, excuse me. I thought you had a preference for the Democratic Party. I have no idea how I acquired that mistaken notion, except maybe for the fact that you really like colored folks.
Anyway, what are you going on about with this “perpetual war economy” talk? Hell, everyone would have a job if that were true. There would be several million men in the armed forces instead of several hundred thousand. And consumers would represent 30 percent of the economy instead of 70 percent.
Are you aware that this is not the 1940s, and Rosenfeld is not the president?
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Wassumatter, Mark? Scared of someone vastly smarter than you?
Maybe that’s why you’re a running joke on the Montana Intertubes. Maybe that’s why the racist Max finds you to be a willing partner to fellate him.
You might want to pull your head out of your ass and do some research sometime, before proving yourself a rather too common (and very small) prick.
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WTF – you high? Where’s Monty?
Oh – I get it. He’s a scientist, and so must understand politics too. Just going by what he wrote, it is apparent he does not, which is not unusual. Very few Democrats understand politics.
Creepy insults, deep anger, guy with a problem.
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Trotsky:
Do you have any idea why that closet homo is always bothering you?
And what the heck could he possibly have against racists?
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Whatever you have to tell yourself, Pal. Your paranoia is quite charming.
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